Sound Designers Blend Vintage and Modern Elements for Prime Video’s ‘Spider-Noir’

To build the auditory world of “Spider-Noir,” composers Kris Bowers and Michael Dean Parsons collaborated with re-recording mixer Ryan Collins and sound designer Andy Sisul. Their brief was to capture the feel of 1930s New York noir while hinting at the series’ superhero roots, prompting the use of electric guitars and heroic strings right from the opening. The sound team sourced percussive hits from city trash cans and employed an antiquated Nagra recorder, also dusting off fifty-year-old sound libraries and polishing them.

Rain and thunder sequences combined aged recordings with modern layers, while the iconic web sound was fashioned from a 2,000-foot magnetic reel. Themes were written to be adaptable across characters, with motifs for the protagonist Ben Riley woven throughout, and a theremin was introduced as a signature cue for his spider-like moments.